I’m Donna Bordeaux with Campground Accounting and I wanted to discuss with you today – cancellations and Cancellation Fees. I hear a lot of talk in the industry about if you should refund anything, should you not; how should cancellations be handled?  I think there are different processes and procedures for every campground. But the things I would suggest to you to consider is if someone is not coming and they’ve already paid you (yes you have their money), what should you do? What is the best opportunity to utilize that occupancy, that open space, to sell it to somebody else? Let’s use July 4th as an example. And I’m sure the campground would love to know if they’ve sold out a spot and somebody who’s not coming, could they can resell that spot that allows them additional opportunity to book that site and get another guest in here who may be a consistent visitor for them in the future or give them some great ratings?

The answer is, yes! And, it would allow them to satisfy an additional guest, which is great. So consider about Cancellation Fees, not on just how much money can you extract from your guest; but, what can you do to get your guests to tell you if they’re not going to come or if they’re leaving a day early. You may have the opportunity to resell that site again. So, some things to consider. I think it’s probably best from a customer satisfaction standpoint to give them some sort of credit. Maybe they’ve already paid you for that day, perhaps you give them some sort of credit on a future reservation. Or, if they book another day within a year that you’ll give them some sort of credit on that stay. There are a lot of things that happen in life that cause people not to be able to make it. Their rig may break down. They’ve got family issues that come up with the last moment.

I know a lot of people cancel and that’s not always great for your business, but let’s see what we can do to make sure that those will be great guests in the future for you. They’ll come back and spend even more money, and you’ll have the opportunity to please another guest who may need that spot. And you want to know if they’re coming or not. So, take a moment to look at your cancellation policy and make sure that it meets those needs and gives you and your customers some kind of incentive to let you know if there are changes to their plans.

So, if you want to talk some more about handling your cancellations and how we can help you grow your RV Park or Campground to its fullest potential, Let’s schedule some time to chat!   You owe it to yourself to see how an industry specialist can help you.

Donna Bordeaux
CPA with CampgroundAccounting.com

What happens when you send two CPAs out into the relaxing outdoors to camp? You get CampgroundAccounting.com.  Donna and Chad have over 50 years of combined experience as entrepreneurial CPAs.  They’ve owned businesses and helped business owners exceed their wildest dreams.  They camp and travel across the country every chance they get, so it’s just a natural fit that they focus their CPA skills on helping campground owners throughout the USA grow their businesses and minimize the impact of taxes.  They understand the key performance indicators and specialized issued that face RV park owners every day.

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